



^y y -x% NORTH CAROLINA 

. V w 

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 


CANNING AND PRESERVING 


BY 

oerald McCarthy 


MARCH, 1907' 



i > 




STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE 


S. L. Patterson, Commissioner, ex officio Chairman, Raleigh. 


J. M. Forehand 
J. B. Stokes ... 
William Dunn. 
C. N, Allen .... 
R. W. Scott .... 
A. T. McCallum 
J. P. McRae ... 
R. L. Doughton 
W. A. Graham. 
A. Cannon. 


Tyner. 

Windsor. 

New Bern 

Auburn . 

Melville. 

Red Springs . . 
Laurinburg . .. 
Laurel Springs 
Machpelah . .. 
Horse Shoe . .. 


First District. 
Second District. 
Third District. 
Fourth District. 
Fifth District. 
Sixth District. 
Seventh District. 
Eighth District. 
Ninth District. 
Tenth District. 


OFFICERS AND STAFF. 

S. L. Patterson .Commissioner. 

T. K. Bruner .Secretary. 

B. W. Kilgore .State Chemist, Field Crops. 

Tait Butler .Veterinarian, Animal Husbandry. 

W. N. Hutt .Horticulturist. 

Franklin Sherman, Jr .Entomologist, 

Gerald McCarthy .Botanist and Biologist. 

H. H. Brimley .Naturalist and Curator. 

W. M. Allen .Assistant Chemist, Human Foods. 

C. B. Williams .Field Crops. 

J. M. Pickel .Assistant Chemist. 

C. D. Harris. .. .Assistant Chemist and Microscopist, Stock Feeds. 

W. G. Haywood .Assistant Chemist. 

G. M. MacNider .Assistant Chemist, Soils. 

G. A. Roberts .Assistant Veterinarian. 

R. S. Woglum .’..Assistant Entomologist. 

F. C. Reimer .Assistant Horticulturist. 

Miss H. M. Card, Women’s Institutes and Assistant Chemist, 

Human Foods. 

L. L. Brinkley .Assistant Chemist. 

S. 0. Perkins .Assistant Chemist. 


R. W. Scott, Jr., Superintendent Edgecombe Test Farm, Reeky Mount, N. C. 
F. T. Meacham, Superintendent Iredell Test Farm, Statesville, N. C. 

John H. Jefferies, Superintendent Pender Test Farm, Willard, N. C. 

R. W. Collett, Superintendent Transylvania Test Farm, Blantvre, N. C. 




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MAY zO 1907 
D. Uf L). 














































6 <Xj 


CANNING AND PRESERVING. 


Oo 

"V. 


By GERALD MCCARTHY, 

Biologist, North Carolina Department of Agriculture. 


THE VALUE AND USES OF CANNED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 

By a little foresight and the methods described in the following 
pages any housekeeper may in seasons of abundance and low prices 
put away against seasons of scarcity and high prices many kinds of 
wholesome and nourishing foods which would otherwise be largely 
wasted or sold for less than the cost of producing. In rural com¬ 
munities it is too often the case that during the colder months all 
the more perishable and wholesome fruits and vegetables are absent 
from the daily bill of fare. Thus people, and young children espe¬ 
cially, are fed upon an improperly balanced ration, which must 
influence in an undesirable manner both their health and growth. 

According to chemical analysis, the apple has 18 per cent solid 
matter and 82 per cent water, while milk has only 13 per cent solid 
matter, and oysters the same. Cabbage, the great stand-by of the 
laboring man, has only 8 per cent solid matter and 92 per cent water. 
Bears have about the same amount of solid matter as apples. Peaches 
have 20 per cent solid matter and 80 per cent water, while fresh pork 
has only 24 per cent solid matter. We see, therefore, that fruits are 
in some respects richer food than milk or oysters, and approximate 
to that of fresh pork. 

Besides contributing sugar and mucilaginous matters as food, 
fruits by their acid and aromatic principles act powerfully in the 
capacity of tonics and antiseptics. When freely used at the stage 
of ripeness fruits prevent debility, strengthen digestion, correct the 
putrefactive tendency of nitrogenous foods, avert scurvy and increase 
the power of labor. 

The alterative effects of fresh fruit are very areat. But every 
species of fruit does not affect every person alike. Each person must 
find out by experiment which fruit is the most suitable to effect the 
desired end in his particular case. There are, however, few cases 
of diarrhoea which will not yield to pure blackberry juice. The 
tomato is recommended for torpid liver; the watermelon for derange¬ 
ment of the kidneys; the potato for rheumatism. During the vintage 
season in the South of France many invalids go there to drink the 
pure juice of the grape direct from the press. Most of these are 


o 




4 


sufferers from nervous dyspepsia. The pure fresh juice tones up 
the system and sets the vital machinery to running aright. Pure 
unfermented grape-juice preserved in bottles according to the method 
described in this Bulletin is quite as wholesome as the juice fresh 
from the press. 

CANNING AS AN ART. 

There is among the general public a belief that there is something 
mysterious in the commercial canning process. Canners themselves 
try to conceal their methods under fanciful or ambiguous names. 
But the principles of canning are very simple, and are known and 
practised by every housewife who puts up a few jars of fruit from 
her own garden. 

The theory of the canning process is based on the principle that 
fermentation is due to living organisms—bacteria and molds. If 
we heat food in a vessel closed from the air we kill all the ferment¬ 
ative germs within, and no more can get in so long as the package 
remains air-tight; thus further fermentation is prevented and the 
food keeps indefinitely. Some germs are difficult to kill in the spore 
stage. These require to be heated to not less than 210 degrees F. 
for one time, 04 to 212 degrees F. on three successive days. All the 
common berry fruits, peaches, apples, and tomatoes are successfully 
sterilized in cans by heating or “processing” one time at 212 degrees 
F. The use of temperature above 212 degrees F. requires a strong 
closed kettle, retort, or an oven. 

In practical canning it is found that the open-kettle process, which 
does not give a temperature above 212 degrees F., is the easiest to 
manage and turns out the best quality of goods. 

Beans, peas, corn, Irish and sweet potatoes cannot be satisfactorily 
canned by heating in cans to 212 degrees F. for one time, though if 
heated to that temperature three times on successive days they will 
keep well. All animal tissues, meats and fish require a temperature 
of 240 degrees F. to sterilize them. 

All of these “high temperature” foods may be satisfactorily canned 
at home by heating the cans or jars in an oven. To can by this method 
the bottom of the oven should be covered with a sheet of asbestos 
board % inch thick. Asbestos can be bought of most plumbers and 
hardware dealers. A good chemical thermometer which is capable 
of showing temperature up to 250 degrees F. is necessary, as in this 
work guessing at the temperature will not do. 

Another way of easily securing a temperature higher than that of 
boiling water is to use a 25 per cent brine instead of plain water in 
the process kettle." Two pounds of salt to a gallon of water makes 
approximately a 25 per cent brine which boils at a temperature of 
about 224 degrees F. For canning the “high temperature” foods it 
is best to use the small size or quart cans or. jars. 



o 


Of late years chemical manufacturers have been urging house¬ 
keepers, canners and dealers to use salicylic acid, borax, and many 
other poisonous chemicals sold under fancy and misleading names 
for preventing fermentation in.canned foods. Their use in canned 
foods is wholly unnecessary, and in many States such use is 
illegal. The use of chemical antiseptics in food is always dangerous 
to health. Cleanliness, proper attention to sealing the cans and 
exposure to sufficient heat will preserve canned foods without the 
addition of any chemicals whatsoever. Not even sugar is essential to 
preservation of properly canned and sterilized food. 

In pickling and drying meats and fish some chemical in addition to 
common salt is ordinarily considered necessary. The chemical most 
extensively used for this purpose is saltpeter or nitrate of potash. 
Tor mild-cured bacon and hams borax is commonly used in place of 
saltpeter. Neither of these two chemicals is wholesome or to be 
recommended. The substitution of pure cream of tartar or of 
acetate of soda for the above-named chemicals will probably give more 
wholesome and equally mild and long-keeping meat. 

FOOD PRESERVATIVES. 

Of all methods for sterilizing foods the best and most wholesome is 
by means of a temperature at or above the boiling point of water. 
During'the last few years there have been invented a number of * 
different methods of preserving foods by cooling the air to a tem¬ 
perature near the freezing point. By means of ice or refrigerating 
machines a temperature of 39 degrees T. can be maintained steadily 
and easily in properly insulated chambers. Meat preserved in cooled 
chambers retains its freshness for about eight days. After fifteen 
days, however, such meat begins to whiten and to contract, expelling 
the cellular juices and acquiring a bad taste. A few days more 
suffices to cover the meat with an abundant growth of molds, and to 
develop in the cells ptomaines or physiological poisons. 

The following are the more generally used chemical preservatives: 

Acetate of Soda .—Of the different chemicals used for preserving 
meats, probably the least harmful—salt excepted—is acetate of 
soda. In practice, however, this preservative has never become 
popular, because it requires unusually long treatment. Long soaking 
when the chemical is dissolved in water washes out a good part of the 
nutritious juice and renders the meat more or less dry and tasteless. 
When this chemical is used as a powder upon the meat, it also and 
most energetically abstracts the moisture and juices of the meat. 
Tinally, the chemical is rather expensive for general use. 

Sulphite of Soda .—Probably the chemical most extensively used 
for meat preservatives at the present time is sulphite of soda. This 




6 


is also largely used on canned vegetables, more especially corn and 
asparagus, on which it acts as a bleaching as well as a preserving 
agent. When used upon fresh meat, sulphite of soda gives to the 
meat a fictitious red color, which color remains even long after the 
meat has begun to decay. Mince-meat and Hamburg steak as sold 
on the counters of meat dealers is almost invariably colored and pre¬ 
served by means of this chemical. Numerous experiments have been 
made by biologists to determine the effect of sulphite of soda upon 
the digestive organs. For obvious reasons most of these experiments 
have been made upon animals. When used in the quantity necessary 
for masking decay, sulphite of soda causes inflammation of the 
mucous lining of the stomach and bowels. It also produces diarrhoea, 
hemorrhage of the stomach, intestines and liver, and fatty degenera¬ 
tion of the kidneys. When used in smaller quantities in experiments 
upon the human body the results have been a feeling of discomfort, 
eructations, indigestion and headache. 

Nitrate of Potash, Saltpeter .—Saltpeter is a chemical very widely 
used for preparing pickled or corned beef and pork. The popular 
impression is that this chemical is a most powerful preservative. 
As a matter of fact its preservative power is very feeble, being due 
almost entirely to its quality of absorbing and expelling the cellular 
juices of the meat. It renders the meat hard, tasteless, and innutri¬ 
tions, even more so than acetate of soda. Its real value depends upon 
its power of preserving the color of stale meat in a way similar to 
that exercised by sulphite of soda already referred to. The physiolog¬ 
ical effects of nitrate of potash are similar to those of sulphite of 
soda. 

Formalin .—Commercial formalin—or, as it is more properly 
called, 40 per cent solution of formaldehyde—has in recent years 
come into very general use, more especially as a preservative for 
milk, cream, and other liquids. This substance is a very powerful 
antiseptic and acts as a dangerous poison to the living organs of the 
human body. A 15 per cent solution of formaldehyde suffices, after 
a dipping of three minutes, to preserve fresh meat perfectly for five 
days. When the immersion is extended to sixty minutes, it will pre¬ 
serve meat for twenty-five days. But such meat is not fit for human 
consumption. As this substance is very cheap and easily used, in 
practice it is probably the one most generally used upon the western- 
killed meats which show such astonishing resisting power against 
decay when hung up in the butcher shops of distant States. 

Borax and Boric Acid .—Borax and boric acid are two forms of one 
chemical which possesses antiseptic powers. This chemical is, next 
to formalin, the one most extensively used in preserving the “com¬ 
mercial beef” of the big western packing-houses. It is also very 
generally used in curing bacon and hams. The United States Gov- 






At 

( 


eminent lias recently made some very important experiments with 
these chemicals upon the human body by adding to food different 
quantities of one or other of these substances. The results of these 
experiments have been summed up and published by the Bureau of 
Chemistry of the United States Department of Agriculture, as 
follows: 

“The g eneral results of the investigation show in a convincing wav 
that even in doses not exceeding half a gram (7% grains) a day boric 
acid and borax equivalent thereto are prejudicial when consumed for 
a long time. It is undoubtedly true that no patent effects may be 
produced in persons of good health by the occasional use of preserva¬ 
tives of this kind in small quantities, but the young, the debilitated, 
and the sick must not be forgotten, and the safe rule to follow is to 
exclude these preservatives from foods of general consumption.” 

Benzoic Acid .—Benzoic acid is very widely used for preserving 
fancy beverages, the so-called “soft drinks,” and the syrups used in 
soda-water fountains; also for preserves, jams, jellies, and catsups. 
This substance occurs naturally in urine derived from the human 
and animal bodies. It was formerly obtained from this source by 
chemical treatment, but at the present time it is chiefly manufactured 
from products of coal-tar distillation. While this is one of the least 
harmful of food preservatives, it is one that no person careful of 
his health should swallow in any quantity except under the advice 
of a physician and for its special medicinal effects. 

Salicylic Acid .—Salicylic acid is also a derivative of coal-tar and 
is chemically closely related to carbolic acid. It is a most energetic 
preservative and in practice is very extensively used in preserving 
canned fruits and vegetables. This substance has been condemned by 
the French Academy of Medicine as injurious to the kidneys, and 
its use as a food preservative is interdicted by most civilized govern¬ 
ments. 


PRESERVING VEGETABLES. 


Asparagus .—The best variety of asparagus for canning is the 
“Colossal,” although any cultivated variety may be used. The 
shoots should be cut to a uniform height, and may be put up either in 
flat tin boxes or in the ordinary quart fruit jars. If in glass jars, 
the asparagus should be cut so that the top of shoots come to about 
the shoulder of the jar. The asparagus shoots must not be washed, 
but each shoot should be rubbed lightly with sand-paper or a coarse 
cloth to remove the outer skin or epidermis. The shoots should be 
selected so as to place only those nearly the same thickness in one 
jar. To whiten the asparagus shoots, proceed as follows: 

Place the trimmed and skinned shoots in a flat-bottomed vessel of 
sufficient size, which must be deep enough to contain the entire 





8 


length of shoot, then pour over the asparagus enough boiling water 
containing 10 per cent of salt to cover the shoots to one-third of their 
length. Let these remain so for exactly three minutes. Next pour 
upon the asparagus additional plain boiling Avater to cover the shoots 
to two-thirds of their length and let it remain for three minutes 
longer. Noav cover the pan, place on fire, and let the AAdiole boil 
vigorously for two minutes—making eight minutes in all. The pan 
must then be removed from the fire and the Avater carefully poured 
or drained off and the asparagus immediately plunged into cold 
Avater, which should be as cold as can be had. Let it remain in the 
cold Avater for one hour to remove the salt and green coloring matter. 
After the shoots have become Avhite, remove from the Avater and 
drain, then place in the can or jar, being careful to keep the shoots 
straight. For liquor, fill the jar or can completely with brine made 
by boiling one ounce of salt in a quart of water. This brine should 
be cold before being used. The jars or cans are then sealed air-tight 
and processed at 212 degrees F. for ten minutes for each pound of 
asparagus. The processing or heating should be repeated for the 
same length of time on each of the next two succeeding days. If 
processed ten minutes at 240 degrees F. in oven, only one heating is 
required. 

Agarics or Mushrooms. —Mushrooms for canning should be 
freshly gathered. The first grade is restricted to the caps alone, 
second choice consists of the caps and stems. Only large and 
Avell-groAvn types of the species should be selected for canning 
and only one species should be placed in the same can or jar. Pre¬ 
pare the folloAving liquid: One quart of Avater, one ounce of salt 
and two teaspoonfuls of vinegar. Place all in a basin and bring to 
the boiling point. Into this boiling liquid throAv the mushrooms to 
be canned, a small quantity at a time, and stir them briskly, but 
without bruising, until they are soaked through; then cover and give 
ten minutes boiling. Remove from the boiling-kettle on a skimmer 
or colander and plunge several times into fresh cold water. Then 
remove and drain. The mushrooms are next placed in the jars. 
For liquor use the salty, acidulated Avater in Avfiich the mushrooms 
Avere boiled. Close the jars air-tight and process at 240 degrees F. 
twenty-five minutes, or process at 212 degrees F. for thirty minutes, 
for each pound of mushrooms, and repeat the processing for the same 
length of time on each of the tAvo succeeding days. Instead of using 
the liquor in Avhich the mushrooms Avere boiled, the jar may be filled 
Avith hot melted butter or hot salad oil. 

Cabbage or Russian Sauerkraut .—This excellent and Avholesome 
article is much used in Russia, Germany, and Alsace. The process 
is very simple, as follows: Remove and discard the exterior green 
leaves; quarter the heads; cut out the cores and the bases of the large 



9 


outer mid-ribs. Then slice with a sharp knife, and cut into fine 
strips lengthwise. Weigh the cut or minced cabbage and for each 
pound of cabbage allow half an ounce of salt. The cut cabbage is 
then placed in layers in kegs, glass jars, or earthenware vessels, and 
on each layer is dusted salt from the portion weighed out. Complete 
the packing by adding enough salt to make one pound of salt for each 
hundred pounds of cabbage: With the portion of the salt placed on 
the top of last layer, mix for each one hundred pounds of cabbage one 
or two handfuls of juniper berries. Upon the whole place a loose 
cover and weigh it down with a heavy stone. When the vessel is 
opened to remove cabbage for consumption, enough fresh-salt brine 
should be added to completely cover the remaining cabbage, and the 
board and weight should be replaced. 

Dutch or Flemish Sauerkraut .—Only red cabbage is used for this 
kind of kraut. Remove the outer leaves as with the Russian kraut 
and cut the quarters into narrow ribbons. Prepare a liquid as 
follows: Tor each pound of cabbage slice three apples, removing the 
cores and seeds; a few sliced onions; two ounces of butter and a table¬ 
spoonful of wine or vinegar; salt and pepper to taste, and add a few 
pieces of sugar. Palace the whole over a low fire and allow to simmer 
two hours. The cooked kraut is then placed in jars and processed 
as directed for asparagus, but one heating at 212 degrees F. suffices. 
Cauliflower may also be canned by this recipe. 

Green Peas .—The best varieties of peas for canning are the early 
wrinkled sorts, of which the Alpha and Gem are types; but late peas 
of the “Telephone” type are also much esteemed. For the best 
results the peas should be carefully sorted according to size. Usually 
three grades are made. The smallest grade are the best and are 
called “extra fine’ 7 ; the next grade are “medium fine,” and the 
largest grade are called “fine” peas. The grading of the peas can 
be done by hand, but when carried on on a large scale it is better to 
use suitable screens or sieves. The graded peas are washed and 
blanched before being placed in the cans. For blanching, for each 
five pounds of peas use five quarts of water, to which may be added a 
few crystals of sulphate of copper, although this addition is not 
necessary nor always desirable. Boil the peas briskly for nine 
minutes for the larger grade, seven minutes for the medium, and 
five minutes for the smallest peas. Remove from the fire and drain. 
When cold place in the cans or jars, which should be filled to within 
one-fourth of an inch of the top. Make a liquor of the following 
substances: Ten quarts of water, four ounces of salt, four ounces of 
white sugar, and one^eighth of an ounce of carbonate of soda. Bring 
this to the boiling point and then permit it to cool before pouring 
over the peas in the cans or jars. The larger peas, or lowest quality, 
may be improved in flavor by adding in the cans a few leaves of 




10 


chopped lettuce and onions. The cans or jars are then closed and 
processed at 212 degrees F. fifteen minutes for each pound of peas. 
The processing or boiling must be repeated for the same period 
on the next two succeeding days. A single heating in the oven or 
retort to 240 degrees F. for fifteen minutes will suffice. Instead of 
using the liquor above described, one and one-half ounces of fresh- 
melted butter for each pound of peas may be used. 

Irish Potatoes .—Immature Irish potatoes are very palatable when 
canned. They are prepared as follows: Choose a roundish variety 
of potato, which should be just so immature that the skin is. easily 
detached by rubbing with the thumb nail. Wash the potatoes thor¬ 
oughly in cold water, then by means of a coarse cloth rub off the skin. 
Wash the potatoes again in cold water, to which has been added one- 
tenth of an ounce of acetate of soda, or same amount of tartaric acid, 
or cream of tartar per gallon. Heat the acidulated water and into this 
throw the cleaned and skinned potatoes and boil for two minutes. 
Remove by means of a wire skimmer—not the fingers—and throw 
into cold, slightly salty water. When cold place the potatoes in cans 
or jars and add the following liquor: One quart of cold water, two 
ounces of fine salt, a crystal of acetate of soda Qr cream of tartar. 
Seal the cans or jars and process at 212 degrees F. fifteen minutes 
for each pound of potatoes. Repeat the processing for the same 
period on the two succeeding days. A single heating in oven to 240 
degrees F. for fifteen minutes will suffice. In removing the cans or 
jars from the kettle be careful not to shake or knock them about, as 
the potatoes are liable to fall to pieces while they are still warm. 

Siveet Potatoes .—Best varieties to can: Yellow Hansemond, 
Jersey Sweet, Southern Queen, and Vineless. Wash and boil the 
potatoes until the skin cracks. Peel and slice or quarter. Pack 
solidly in quart cans or jars. Use no liquor. Process in oven twenty 
minutes at 240 degrees F., or three times on successive days at boil¬ 
ing temperature. 

Tomatoes .—For canned tomatoes, the best varieties are those of 
the more solid kind, such as the Beauty, Stone, Champion, Royal, 
and Trophy. The tomatoes should be freshly gathered, of only 
medium size, and as smooth and regular as possible. They must be 
fully ripe, but not overripe, nor with cracked skins. The tomatoes 
are first scalded with boiling water until the skin cracks, then peeled 
and, without further treatment, packed solidly in cans or jars. For 
liquor use water, to which for each quart add two ounces of salt. 
This brine should be boiled and cooled before adding to the cans or 
jars. Seal the cans or jars air-tight and give thirty minutes boiling 
at 212 degrees F. Where fruit of the proper degree of ripeness is 
used, and great cleanliness is observed in the handling, it is not neces¬ 
sary to process tomatoes more than once nor to use a temperature 
above 212 degrees F. 







11 


TOMATO SAUCES. 

For making sauce, tomatoes that are too ripe or too large or irreg¬ 
ular for canning whole may be used. Greek or imperfectly ripened 
tomatoes cannot be used for .this purpose. Remove the stems and 
skins and place the tomatoes in a porcelain or tin-lined kettle. For 
each hundred pounds of tomatoes use two pounds of salt, one pound 
of chopped onions, four chopped green peppers and a few chopped 
peach or cherry leaves. No water is added. Allow them to simmer 
in their own juice, with frequent stirring to prevent burning, until 
the whole is reduced to a smooth mass. The cooked mass is then 
run through a colander to remove hard particles, and all that cannot 
be passed through a colander must be rejected. The smooth paste 
thus obtained is returned to the fire and permitted to evaporate down 
to about two-thirds of its original volume. It is then placed in cans 
or jars and processed at 212 degrees T. five minutes for each pound 
of sauce. 

Albemarle Souce. —Tomatoes (skins off), one peck; cinnamon, 
one ounce, pulverized; mace, one ounce, pulverized; allspice, one- 
half ounce, pulverized; cloves, one-fourth ounce, pulverized; mus¬ 
tard, one ounce, pulverized; salt, one gill; vinegar, two quarts; 
onions, two ounces; peach leaves, one dozen; sugar (white), one-half 
pound; red pepper, one ounce, pulverized; black pepper, one ounce, 
pulverized; celery seed, two ounces; mustard (white, unground), 
one ounce. Cook the tomatoes; strain them; add the spices and heat 
to boiling; when quite cool, add six fluid ounces of old Jamaica rum, 
or in its lack corn whiskey. 

TOMATO PICKLES. 

Sivcet Tomato Pickles. —Slice one peck of green tomatoes and two 
good-sized onions, sprinkle over them a cupful of salt, and let stand 
twenty-four hours. Drain and add two tablespoonful.s each of 
ground allspice and ginger. Put into a preserving kettle with two 
pounds of sugar, and vinegar enough to' cover; simmer until they 
look transparent. Bottle and seal tight. 

Green Tomato Pickles. —One peck of green tomatoes, sliced; one 
dozen onions, sliced; one ounce of whole cloves; two ounces of mus¬ 
tard seed; one-fourth pound of ground mustard; one and one-half 
ounces of black pepper. Put a layer of tomatoes, then a layer of 
onions, then a sprinkling of salt, then another layer of tomatoes, and 
so on. Let stand over night; the next morning strain off the liquor, 
put the tomatoes in the preserving kettle with the other ingredients, 
cover with vinegar and simmer gently fifteen minutes. Put away 
in stone or glass jars, and seal tight. 

3 


/ 




12 


TOMATO CATSUP. 

Take one peck of ripe tomatoes; put them in a kettle; boil one 
hour; take them out; press and strain the pulp through a sieve; put 
it into a kettle; add six large onions, grated; four tablespoonfuls of 
brown sugar; one tablespoonful of ground mustard; one tablespoon¬ 
ful of salt; one teaspoonful mace, pulverized; one teaspoonful of 
cloves, pulverized; one teaspoonful of black pepper, pulverized; three 
pods of green pepper, cut fine. Mix the seasoning with the pulp; let 
it boil five hours; stir frequently; just before taking it from the fire, 
stir into it one pint of strong vinegar. When cold, put into bottles 
and seal. 

DRIED TOMATOES. 

In Spain tomatoes are more frequently preserved by drying than 
by canning. The ripe tomatoes are simply cut in halves and on each 
cut surface is placed a pinch of salt. The tomatoes are exposed to 
the direct sun on trays made by tacking cheese-cloth on frames. 
These trays are elevated some feet above the ground. The trays are 
taken in or covered up each night. It usually requires eight or ten 
days to dry tomatoes. When dried they may be packed in vessels of 
wood or tin until wanted for use. To prevent insects fouling the 
drying tomatoes, cover with mosquito-netting held a few inches above 
the fruit. 

CUCUMBER PICKLES. 

The best pickles are made of gherkins. If ordinary garden cucum¬ 
bers are used they should be gathered when about the size of the 
thumb. A keg, barrel, vat or earthenware jar must be provided for 
brining. The vessel' should have a spigot at the bottom, and should 
be elevated upon a block or a stand. The vessel should be thoroughly 
cleaned and scalded. The gherkins or cucumbers as they are brought 
from the field and as soon as possible after gathering are, without 
any washing or preliminary treatment, thrown into the pickling 
vessel. Prepare a brine containing for each gallon of water one 
pound of salt. ITeat this to the boiling point and allow to cool before 
pouring over the cucumbers. Allow this brine to stand on the cucum¬ 
bers for two or three days or until it begins to turn white on the 
surface. Then open the spigot at the bottom, or if there is no spigot 
turn down the pickling vessel and allow the brine to drain away. Then 
wash the pickles and the inside of the pickling vessel very carefully 
and thoroughly with clean, pure water which has been boiled and 
cooled. Recover the pickles with a ten per cent salt brine made as 
before. To this second brine for each four gallons of water add one- 
half ounce of acetate of soda. Close the vessel tightly and place 
away in a cool, dark cellar. The pickles in this brine will keep 


13 


indefinitely. When wanted for use they must be soaked for twenty- 
four hours in running water or in cold water changed every two 
hours. A better and more satisfactory pickle is made by soaking the 
pickles, after the salt has been removed, in ordinary cider vinegar for 
seven or eight days. They are then removed from this vinegar and 
placed in vessels from which they are to be consumed or otherwise 
disposed. In this vessel they may be mixed with small white onions, 
a little thyme and a few cloves of garlic, and then covered wholly 
with fresh vinegar heated nearly to the boiling point, but not boiled. 
To this vinegar may be added 10 per cent of pure white sugar. The 
pickles are then ready for consumption. 

VARIOUS PICKLES. 

In the same manner above described for cucumbers or gherkins 
many other species of garden vegetable may be pickled, especially 
the following: red cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, white onions, green 
peppers, green snap beans, green tomatoes, beets, and capers. 

CHOW-CHOW. 

Four quarts of chopped cabbage; one quart of chopped onions; two 
ounces of ground mustard; one ounce of ginger; one-half ounce of 
cloves; one-half ounce of mace; one-half ounce of cinnamon; one 
ounce of celery seed; three dunces of turmeric powder; three pounds 
of sugar; four quarts of green tomatoes, chopped fine; four chopped 
green peppers; three tablespoonfuls of salt. Cover with vinegar; 
mix thoroughly and process at 212 degrees F. for ten minutes. 
Bottle and seal. 

MIXED VEGETABLES OR JULIENNE. 

Select the following vegetables in the weights given: Carrots, ten 
pounds; turnips, six pounds; cabbage, five pounds; green peas, five 
pounds; leeks, one pound ; snap beans, one pound. Hash these vege¬ 
tables and mix thoroughly. Blanch the hashed mixture according to 
the method already described for green peas. Cool in cold water and 
immediately place in the cans or jars. For liquor use hot melted 
butter. Process at 212 degrees F. for twenty minutes for each pound 
of vegetables. 

DRIED JULIENNE. 

Instead of canning the julienne mixture it^nav be dried in the sun 
or otherwise evaporated, after removing from the blanching bath. 

PRESERVING FRUITS. 

Apricots, Cherries, and Plums .—Apricots should be well grown 
and perfectly sound, but not completely ripe. The fruit may be 
pitted or not, as desired, but usually apricots are canned whole and 


14 



unpitted. The fruit is washed for three minutes in pure boiling 
water and is then by means of a skimmer or a silver fork removed 
from the vessel and placed in the jars or cans. The fruit must not be 
touched with the fingers after having been scalded, nor with a steel 
fork or knife. The cans having been packed as solidly as possible, the 
interstices are filled with a sugar syrup of 20 per cent. The jars are 
then sealed and processed at 212 degrees F. for twelve minutes for 
each pound of fruit. The jars after being removed from the process¬ 
ing kettle should be cooled as quickly as possible. Usually one proc¬ 
essing is sufficient. Plums are canned in the same way as apricots. 
Fed cherries are also canned by the above formula, but as they will 
lose some of their color, the syrup is to be colored by means of a 
little tincture of cochineal, which substance is an animal product and 
not unwholesome. It can be bought at any drug store. 

Peaches .—Peaches for canning should be fully grown, but not per¬ 
fectly ripe. The fruit may be canned whole or halved. If halved, 
remove the pits, but crack a few of these and add them to each jar 
to give flavor. The fruit should be selected so as to get only the 
one size in same can. The fruit should be peeled. Scald until skin 
cracks, then peel with silver-plated knife. For a blanching liquid use 
boiled and cooled water, acidulated with the juice of a lemon. They 
should be allowed to remain in this liquid for six to eight hours. 
Then without additional washing, and .without touching with the 
fingers, with a wooden or silver-plated spoon pack in the cans or 
jars. Cover with a syrup containing 15 per cent to 25 per cent of 
sugar, close the jars and process at 212 degrees F. ten minutes for 
each pound of fruit. Pemove the vessel from the processing kettle 
and cool as quickly as possible. Uo second processing is required 
for peaches. 

Strawberries .—Strawberries for canning are hand-picked to avoid 
leaves and trash. All stems and hulls must be removed. The berries 
are then placed in a porcelain vessel and covered with a cold 25 per 
cent sugar syrup, which is allowed to remain on them for twelve 
hours. By means of a strainer or any suitable utensil, remove the 
fruit from syrup and place in the cans or jars without touching the 
fruit with the fingers. Fill the cans as tightly as possible without 
mashing the fruit and then pour upon them enough of the cold syrup 
in which they have been soaking to completely fill the can. Close the 
can and process at 212 degrees F. for ten minutes for each pound of 
fruit. A little tincture *of cochineal mav be added. 

tJ 

Huckleberries, or Blueberries .—Make a syrup of one quart of 
water and one pound of sugar. Let it come to the boiling point. Fill 
the jars solidly and pour hot syrup over them. Process as for straw¬ 
berries. 

Blackberries .—Sweeten a little, but add no water. Fill jars and 
process as for huckleberries. Use no liquor. 




15 


Apples .—For canning select a variety with firm spicy flesh and 
not over-ripe. Apples must be pared and the done removed, and may 
be quartered or not. Without further treatment place the fruit in the 
cans or jars and cover with a 25 per cent sugar syrup. To give) 
additional flavor a little orange, citron, or lemon peel may be added. 
The cans are then closed and processed at 212 degrees F. ten minutes 
for each pound of fruit. Pears are treated in the same way as apples, 
but they are first to be blanched. Green ginger-root is preferred for 
flavoring pears. 

Ganteloupes .—Melons for canning should be not completely ripe. 
The skin or rind and the central pulp must be removed. The melon 
is then sliced and allowed to macerate for twelve hours in its own 
juice, covered with a mixture of granulated or powdered sugar and 
grated nutmeg. They are then, without further treatment, to be 
placed in the jars and covered with the juice in which they have been 
macerating. This juice should contain about 25 per cent of sugar. 
The jars are then closed and processed ten minutes for each pound 
of fruit. Squash and pumpkin when prepared by this recipe are 
excellent. 

Figs .—Figs for canning must be fully ripe and freshly gathered. 
Let them macerate for twelve hours in a 25 per cent sugar syrup. 
Then, without touching the fruit with the fingers, with a wooden or 
silver-plated spoon remove from macerating dish and place in the 
jars, bleat the liquid in which they have been macerating to the 
boiling point and pour over the fruit in the jars. Should there not 
be enough of this liquid for the purpose, use a boiling hot 25 per 
cent sugar syrup. Close the jars and process for ten minutes at 212 
degrees F. for each pound of fruit. 

Dried Figs. —Figs, particularly the Brown Turkey variety, are 
easily dried in sunlight or in an evaporator. The fruit must be 
dead ripe. When about two-thirds dry, work and squeeze the figs 
between fingers to make them soft. Then flatten them and com¬ 
plete drying. Pack in boxes with a sheet of brown paper between 
layers. 

Kaki or Japan Persimmon .—Kakis are canned in the same way 
as peaches, but are first to be peeled and the seeds removed. A 20 
per cent sugar syrup is sufficient. 

UNFERMENTED FRUIT JUICES. 

Grape Juice .—To make wholesome unfermented grape juice that 
will keep well requires correct manipulation and careful attention to 
cleanliness during the process. Grapes for this use should be fully 
ripe, but not over-ripe. All imperfectly ripened berries and all 
berries showing disease should be picked out before crushing. After 







16 


crushing the fruit the entire mass should be heated to from 150 
degrees F. to 165 degrees F., but not higher than 165 degrees F. A 
double-jacketed kettle or one with the vessel containing the grapes set 
inside a larger vessel containing water should be used for heating. 
Cook the crushed grapes with frequent and vigorous stirring for two 
hours. The fruit should then be removed from the fire and strained 
through a thick cloth into the bottles in which it is to be preserved, or 
if more convenient it may be run from the strainer into large glass 
carboys holding not more than five gallons. These must be previously 
washed out with boiling water and should be as hot as the juice is 
when ready to be filled. The vessels, whether large or small, must 
be filled until the juice begins to run out at the opening, and then 
corked tightly and the cork covered with wax to make it air-tight. 
If the juice is run at once into small bottles no further manipulation 
is required. If it is temporarily stored in large vessels, when wanted 
for consumption it must be once more heated to near 165 degrees F. 
and strained through cloth into the bottles. When the storage vessel 
is opened the entire contents must be removed at once. If allowed 
to remain twenty-four hours in a partly filled vessel the juice will 
begin to ferment. This fermentation may be stopped at any time by 
heating the juice to 165 degrees F., but the character of the liquid as 
unfermented wine is lost and cannot be recovered. It is of the 
utmost importance that the juice be heated to 165 degrees F., and 
no more. If heated much above 165 degrees F. the albumin of the 
juice will coagulate and greatly decrease its nutritive properties, and 
the natural taste of the juice will be spoiled. If heated to less than 
160 degrees F. the ferment microbe will not be killed, and the juice 
will soon begin to ferment. To insure the proper temperature in the 
kettle a tested dairy thermometer, costing about ninety cents, should 
be allowed to float on the juice. In this matter guess-work will not 
do. Never, under any circumstances, add sulphite of lime or other 
preservative to fruit juice. Sugar is unnecessary, and should not be 
used unless the grapes are unripe. Keep the bottled juice in a cool, 
dark place. 

Cherry Juice .—The wild black cherries of the woods are better 
flavored and make juice superior to that of the cultivated sorts. The 
pits must be removed. To twenty pounds of the fruit add five quarts 
of water. Place the whole in a porcelain-lined kettle over a slow 
fire and simmer until reduced to a paste. Then drain or squeeze the 
juice out by means of a thin cloth bag and fill at once into bottles. 
Use ordinary wine-bottles, which have been previously washed 
and boiled. Fill completely with juice, but do not cork. The 
bottles are then placed in a hot-water basin and boiled for three 
minutes. The corks to be used for closing the bottles should have 
been previously boiled for five minutes, and then, fresh from the 



IT 


boiling water, are driven down into the neck of the bottle so as to be 
even with the opening. The bottle should be cooled quickly, but not 
exposed to a draft of air, and two days afterwards the surface of the 
cork covered with melted wax or paraffin. Store in a cool, dark place. 

Quince Juice .—For making quince juice, usually only the skins 
and cores of this fruit which have been accumulated in making quince 
jelly are used. To twenty pounds of quince parings, cores, etc., add 
ten quarts of water. Place the whole into a porcelain-lined kettle 
and set over a low fire; simmer and stir until reduced to a paste. 
The juice is then squeezed out, sweetened if desired, and bottled. 
Process at 212 degrees F. as already described in the case of cherries. 

Strawberry Juice.—For strawberry juice select well-ripened fruit, 
crush with a wooden pestle and for each twenty pounds of fruit add 
three quarts of water. Let simmer one hour, then strain and squeeze 
the juice out and fill at once into bottles, which are to be processed at 
212 degrees F. for four minutes. 

Apple and Pear Juice. —Apple and pear juice may be prepared 
from skins and cores in the way described for quinces, but it is best 
to use juice expressed from the whole fruit, and only the more 
highly-flavored varieties of these fruits. 

Fruit Puree. —Instead of squeezing out the juice and discarding 
the solid part, when the entire fruit is used the pulp may be 
cooked in a porcelain-lined kettle until soft, then forced through a 
colander. Sweeten if desired, and can hot. Process ten minutes at 
212 degrees F. 

Fruit Syrups. —Fruit syrups are made in the same way as fruit 
juices, but they are evaporated over a low fire to one-half original 
volume. To the concentrated juice add one-lialf as much brown 
sugar as there is juice by measure. The syrup must be strained 
before putting in bottles. Process ten minutes at 212 degrees F. 

Marmalade and Fruit Butter. —The lowest grade of sound fruit 
may be worked up into marmalade and fruit butter. The apparatus 
needed for this work is very simple. Apples, quinces, and pears 
must be sliced or chopped, but need not be peeled or cored. Place 
the chopped fruit in a porcelain-lined kettle and cover with juice of 
the same fruit. Plain water will do, but this entails more work in 
evaporating the water. Boil until the fruit becomes soft enough to 
be easily run through a colander. Pass through colander to remove 
seeds, sldns, and cores. Add sugar to taste. The amount of sugar 
required depends upon the variety, natural sweetness, and ripeness 
of the fruit used. Usually in making apple marmalade, to every 100 
pounds of apple paste from the colander 30 pounds of brown sugar is 
added. Cook again until the marmalade is reduced to desired consist¬ 
ency. Usually 100 pounds of fruit and 8 gallons of fruit juice, to 
which is added 40 pounds brown sugar, make 110 pounds finished 
marmalade. 








IS 


Fruit butter differs from marmalade only in being spiced and 
using 20 pounds of sugar or 2 gallons of molasses, with cinnamon to 
suit, to 100 pounds fruit. Both these products keep well in ordinary 
covered wooden pails, if kept in a cool, dark place, but it is safer to 
preserve in fruit jars or tightly-covered wide-mouthed bottles. 

FRUIT JELLIES. 

The following recipes for making jelly and fruit pastes are mostly 
from French sources. 

The varieties of fruit most suitable for jellies are the apple, pear, 
peach, strawberry, gooseberry, currant, and quince. 

Apple Jelly. —For making apple jelly select only highly-flavored 
varieties. Crab-apples make better jelly than the standard varieties. 
The jelly may be either made from fresh juice or from juice which 
has been canned or bottled as described in the previous chapter. The 
fresh juice is, however, much the better. For apple jelly take ten 
pounds or one gallon of juice and ten pounds of sugar. A little 
orange juice will improve the flavor and a little lemon juice helps to 
jellify. The sweetened juice thus made is cooked over a low fire 
until the mass is reduced to two-thirds of the original volume. It is 
then placed in wide-mouthed jars and permitted to cool before being 
sealed. It may be kept in tumblers with the top covered with waxed 
paper. Jellies are not processed. 

Pear Jelly. —Make pear jelly in the same way as apple jelly. 

Quince Jelly. —Four quarts of quince juice, or use one-half quince 
juice and one-half apple juice; eight pounds of sugar. Cook this over 
a low fire—skimming off the scum—until reduced to two-thirds of 
the original volume. It is then placed in jars or tumblers, which 
should be filled to the very brim, as quince jelly always contracts on 
cooling. The jars should not be sealed until two days after placing 
the jelly in them. 

Peach Jelly. —For peach jelly use only full-ripe fruit. The fruit 
must be peeled and pitted. The fruit is then to be pressed and the 
juice used as follows: eight quarts of peach juice; three quarts of 
apple juice; ten pounds of sugar; and juice of two lemons. Let this 
cook over a low fire until reduced to two-thirds its original volume. 
Skim off all scum. Place in jars and allow to solidify before sealing. 

Strawberry Jelly. —Strawberry jelly is made by the last recipe, 
but will be much improved in quality by substituting pineapple juice 
for the apple juice given in the recipe. 

Currant and Gooseberry Jelly. —Take six quarts of juice of red 
currants; two quarts of juice of white currants; two quarts of straw¬ 
berry juice, and twenty-five pounds of sugar. Cook slowly until 
reduced to two-thirds of the original volume. When completely 









19 


cooked, add enough solution of cochineal to give a desirable color 
and carefully skim off all scum. It is then placed in jars and allowed 
to solidify before sealing. Straight gooseberry jelly may he made by 
the same recipe. 

Cherry Jelly .—Take five quarts of juice of black or red cherries; 
five quarts of apple juice; five teaspoonfuls of cherry-laurel water 
and twenty pounds of sugar. Cook the mixture until reduced to 
two-thirds of the original volume, and carefully skim off all scum. 
Before placing in the jars, if the color is not satisfactory add a little 
of the tincture of cochineal. 

In the making of all kinds of jelly, in order to determine when the 
fruit is sufficiently cooked, let fall a drop of the cooking mass upon 
a cold plate. If the drop remains round when cool the jelly is 
sufficiently cooked. In all cases the jars in which the jelly is placed 
for preservation should remain uncovered from twenty-four to forty- 
eight hours. The surface of the jelly should then he covered with 
either the ordinary Mason can covers or with a round of clean white 
paper moistened in whiskey or alcohol, and over this should be placed 
a piece of glazed paper, or, what is better, a circle of the parchment 
paper used for wrapping butter. Bend down the edges and tie around 
jar with a string. Store jellies in a cool, dry, dark place. 

FRUIT PASTES. 

In the making of fruit pastes or confections only fresh fruit can he 
used. The principal operation in making these confections consists 
of cooking the fruits in sugar syrup. The cooking must he dotie 
exactly right or the quality of the confection will not he good. In 
preparing the syrup it is first heated to a temperature slightly below 
the boiling point and kept there until the syrup begins to thicken. 
The proper point or “first stage” of syrup may be determined by 
moistening the finger in fresh cold water and plunging it into the 
syrup. Withdraw the finger and immediately plunge again in cold 
water. If the syrup has arrived at the proper degree of cooking, a 
light granular envelope of crystallized sugar will remain around 
the finger. When the syrup has reached this condition the fruit may 
be introduced. The temperature should not be increased. From 
time to time a little of the cooking paste should be removed with a 
spoon and with the fingers of the other hand draw it out from tip of 
the spoon into a string. When the paste has become so thick that it 
will draw out into a long string, it has reached the “second stage” 
and the cooking of the confection is done. The confection must then 
be removed from the kettle and at once placed in jars and sealed. 
Jelly jars or tumblers are used. No after processing is required. 

Confection of Apricots .—Choose thoroughly ripe fruit, scald, peel, 
and crush; take of the pulp six pounds. Add to this six pounds of 



sugar. First stir the sugar into the juice obtained from the fruit in 
the crushing process. Heat to the “first stage” above described. 
Then add the fruit pulp, mix thoroughly and let simmer about half 
an hour until reduced to the “second stage' 7 above described. In 
case not enough juice is obtained in crushing the apricots, apple juice 
or plain water may be substituted. 

Confection of Pears.- —Pear paste is made in the same way as 
apricot paste; but the juice used to boil the sugar to the “first stage 77 
should be obtained from fruit specially pressed for the purpose, and 
the pulp from which this fruit juice has been extracted should be 
discarded. The pear juice should be evaporated to about one-third 
its original volume before the pulp is introduced. 

Strawberry Paste. —Take two quarts of apple juice and in this 
cook nine pounds of sugar. When this syrup has been cooked to the 
“first stage 77 introduce into the syrup four and one-half pounds of 
uncrushed fruit and enough tincture of cochineal to give the paste a 
desirable color. Cook and stir until the fruit is reduced to a pulp 
and will string out as already explained, then at once place in jars 
or tumblers. 

Peach Paste. —Choose thoroughly ripe peaches of a variety having 
a spicy flavor. Peel, pit, and crush them with a wooden pestle. 
For two quarts of juice use nine pounds of sugar and cook until it 
reaches the “first stage 77 above described. Then add four and one- 
half pounds of peach pulp and let it cook until the mass will string. 
Then place in jars. 

Mixed Fruit Paste. —For a mixed fruit paste one can use almost 
any desirable mixture: for instance, peach, pear, apple, cherry, 
strawberry, fig, etc. Crush these and with the juice of the mixed 
fruits or of any part of the mixture make a sugar syrup and cook 
until it reaches the “first stage 77 above described. Then add the 
fruit and cook for about one-half hour. At once place the fruit in 
jars and add sufficient clear sugar syrup cooked to “first stage 77 to 
completely fill the jars. The jars must then be sealed air-tight and 
processed at 212 degrees F. as for canned peaches. 

Rhubarb Paste. —For this confection either red or green rhubarb 
stalks may be used. The stalks are cut into small pieces and placed 
in a porcelain dish or jar and covered with an equal weight of white 
sugar. The rhubarb is allowed to macerate and absorb the sugar for 
one night. Hext drain off the juice and place it in a porcelain-lined 
kettle and cook until reduced to the “first stage 77 already described. 
Then introduce the pieces of rhubarb and cook until the syrup is 
reduced to the “second stage. 7 ' As the rhubarb will have lost most 
of its own color during the cooking, if green rhubarb has been used, 
the color may be restored by means of a little mixed indigo and 
saffron. If the red variety of rhubarb has been used, color with a 



21 


little tincture of cochineal. This confection when cooked should be 
immediately placed in jars and sealed. It will require no further 
treatment. 

CANDIED FRUITS. 

Candied fruits are made in much the same way as fruit pastes, 
hut the fruit is not crushed, but cut into halves or quarters. Pits 
and seeds are rejected. Use a plain sugar syrup—a pound of sugar 
in a half pint of water. Cook below 212 degrees F. until it reaches 
the “first stage.” Add the fruit, which must be fully ripe and peeled. 
Let simmer until fruit looks transparent or “second stage” is reached. 
Then remove fruit and place in a single layer on a pan and place this 
in a moderately hot oven until syrup has hardened and the fruit 
looks dry and glassy. 

BRANDIED FRUITS. 

The principal fruits preserved in brandy or alcohol are apricots, 
cherries, peaches, plums, pears, and melons. For this method of 
preservation all fruits must be thoroughly ripe, but not over-ripe 
or damaged. The fruit should be gathered before sunrise in the 
morning and permitted to dry in the shade for some hours. There are 
two extensively used commercial methods of procedure: For making 
goods of only ordinary quality it suffices to simply take the fruits 
after they are collected and dried as above mentioned, and pack them 
in any clean barrel or jar and cover with 50 per cent alcohol, 
or ordinary brandy or whiskey, heated to a little below boiling point. 
The barrels or jars are then closed tightly and the fruits permitted 
to macerate in the alcohol for four or five months. They are then 
spiced and are ready for consumption. 

The second process, which is more satisfactory for preparing a 
high-grade product, is as follows: The fruit is first blanched accord¬ 
ing to the method given below. It is then cooled and permitted to 
drain. Then cover with a hot mixture of equal parts of 28 per cent 
sugar syrup and fifty per cent alcohol or ordinary brandy. By this 
process the fruit will be ready for consumption after about two 
months aceration in the liquor. 

The following are special recipes for preparing the highest grade 
of brandied fruits: 

Apricots and Peaches .—Select smooth, well-shaped, perfectly ripe 
fruit. Puncture with a copper or silver-plated fork. The pits are 
not removed. The fruit is blanched by throwing into hot water con¬ 
taining one per cent of cream of tartar and permitted to simmer 
slowly" for ten minutes. Then remove, without touching with the 
fingers, and throw into ice-cold water, where the fruit is allowed to 
remain for ten minutes. Drain and pack solidly into jars in which 




they are to be preserved. Cover with alcohol of 50 per cent, or brandy, 
and spice with cinnamon or nutmeg if desired. Allow to macerate 
for fifteen days. At the end of the fifteen days remove the fruits from 
the alcohol and permit them to drain. While draining, prepare a 
syrup containing 28 per cent of white sugar. Take equal parts of 
alcohol, at 50 per cent, or brandy and the sugar syrup especially 
prepared for the purpose; heat to 200 degrees F. and with it cover 
the fruit in the bottles or jars. If the Mason jar is used, the cover 
must be made so tight that the alcohol or brandy will not evaporate. 
There is no danger of the fruit spoiling so long as the alcohol does 
not evaporate. If corksi are used cover top with wax or paraffin. 

Pears .—The best pears for this purpose are the Duchess, Bartlett, 
Iveiffer, and Sekel; but any good dessert pear may be used. Peel 
and prick with a silver fork or wooden skewer. Quarter the fruit 
if large, or leave entire. To blanch, throw them into hot water 
containing one per cent of cream of tartar and permit .them to 
remain ten minutes. Then plunge into pure cold water for ten 
minutes. Remove from the water and drain slightly, then cover 
with a 28 per cent sugar syrup and permit them to macerate twenty- 
four hours. Place the fruit in the jars in which they are to be pre¬ 
served and cover with a hot (200 degrees F.) liquor made of two- 
thirds of a 28 per cent sugar syrup and one-third 50 per cent alcohol 
or whiskey or brandy. Close the jars or bottles and let them macerate 
in this liquor for two months, when they are ready for consumption. 

Cherries .—The best cherry for this purpose is. the Montmorency. 
The stems are removed and the fruit pricked with a silver fork or 
skewer and at once placed in jars without blanching. For a pound 
of fruit add one and one-half ounces of white sugar and then cover 
the fruit with 50 per cent alcohol or brandy. Allow them to mace¬ 
rate for one month, when they are ready for consumption. 

Canteloupes .—Brandied canteloupes are prepared in exactly the 
same way as pears. The best sorts are the small, netted “Gem” 
varieties. The fruits are sliced or halved, and the rinds and the 
central pulp removed. 

Figs .—Select thoroughly ripe figs of medium or large size. These 
need not be pricked, as there is already a central opening. Arrange 
the fresh figs in the jars in which they are to be preserved and cover 
with 50 per cent alcohol or brandy and permit to macerate for three 
weeks. After this period remove the alcohol, heat to boiling point 
and add to it one-third of its volume of a 28 per cent sugar syrup. 
Spices—cinnamon, cloves, or nutmeg, may be added, if desired. 
Macerate again for two months, when they are ready for consump¬ 
tion. 







23 


WINE AND CORDIALS. 

For making sound, wholesome wine the following apparatus and 
materials are required: 

Sound grapes, fully ripe, but not decayed. 

Clean vessels of suitable size for crushing, fermenting and stor¬ 
ing the juice. These vessels may be of wood, tinned iron, -glass or 
earthenware. 

A saccharometer. 

A floating or “dairy” thermometer. 

A clean, odorless paddle or rod for stirring the juice. 

Dippers, pails, hose, faucets, etc. 

For home use we recommend making only dry red wine. White 
wine is very difficult to keep without “fortifying” it with alcohol, 
and fortified wines are not wholesome. 

To make red wine the ripe grapes must be crushed in a vessel 
having holes near the bottom to allow the juice to run into another ves¬ 
sel placed below. Crushing may be done by means of a wooden pestle 
or any suitable device. It is usually best to crush the stems of the 
grape bunches with the berries. These stems contain a large amount 
of tannin, which substance is necessary for a long-keeping wine and 
is rather lacking in the berries, especially in grapes of the scupper- 
nong type. The crushed grapes are at once put into the fermenting 
vat, which should be small, or not larger than a barrel. A weighted 
frame or porous cover is put over the crushed grapes to hold them 
down below the surface after fermentation has begun. The vat is 
then filled to within not less than 20 inches of the top. Fermenta¬ 
tion will set in spontaneously within twelve hours and will become 
violent within thirty-six hours. It is usually completed within ten 
days. The temperature of the juice or “must” at the beginning of 
fermentation and during the entire process is a matter of very great 
importance. Ignorance of this fact is the main cause of the poor 
quality of most home-made wine. The temperature at the start should 
be less than 60 degrees F. If necessary, ice should be used to reduce 
the temperature of the fresh juice. For each degree of sugar shown 
by the saccharometer the temperature of the fermenting juice will be 
raised about 1 degree F. But the yeast plants themselves are 
paralyzed at a temperature of about 95 degrees F. If we start with a 
juice at 75 degrees F. and the juice shows 25 degrees on the saccha¬ 
rometer, the maximum temperature attained before completion of 
fermentation will be 100 degrees F. This will absolutely kill the 
yeast plants, and we will have a “stuck” vat. If we start with an 
initial temperature of 60 degrees F. the highest temperature reached 
will be 85 degrees F., which is well within the limit of safety. If 
for any cause the temperature of the fermenting .vat passes 85 


24 


degrees F. the juice must be at once cooled. This may be accom¬ 
plished most easily by aerating the juice. A vigorous stirring will 
often suffice. Pouring the juice from one vat into another will do it. 
Keeping the outside of the fermenting vat wet will also help reduce 
the temperature. Finally, ice may be added to the vat, but this intro¬ 
duces an impurity into the juice and is not desirable. In order to 
keep the temperature down, small fermenting vats are preferable to 
large ones, as they offer greater surface for evaporation. If a vat gets 
“stuck” and fermentation ceases before all the sugar in the juice is 
transformed, it can be revived and finished by pouring the contents 
of the “stuck” vat into another vat in such a way as to* thoroughly 
aerate the juice. To the new vat must be added one-fourth its 
capacity of fresh unfermented juice, and if practicable a quart or so 
of violently fermenting wine from another vat. 

In hot climates or seasons the best plan is to gather wine grapes 
in the late afternoon, expose them in shallow layers to the night air. 
This will usually cool the grapes to a safe starting point, then rush 
the crushing and fermenting. Fermenting vats should always he 
kept in a cool cellar, which must he dry and well ventilated. 

The completion of the fermenting process is indicated by the cessa¬ 
tion of bubbles of carbonic acid gas to rise. When bubbles become 
rare, if your vat has not overheated and “stuck,” the main fermenta¬ 
tion is over and the new wine should at once be drawn off the pomace 
and lees. Have ready a clean, well-scalded vessel of nearly same 
size as the fermenting vat. In this should have been burned a little 
sulphur, or a strip of muslin saturated with fused sulphur. Fill 
this vessel completely with the new wine and place a grape leaf or 
loose cover of any kind over bung. Let stand thus in a cool place 
until no more bubbles of carbonic gas rise to the bunghole. Then 
drive in the bung as tight as possible, first filling the barrel, if neces¬ 
sary, until the liquid runs out at bung. Let it stand so with least 
possible disturbance for one month, then rack off into a fresh barrel, 
clean and sulphured as before. If at this racking the wine is still 
turbid it must be “fined.” To “fine” red wine take the whites of six 
perfectly fresh eggs for one barrel of wine. Beat to a foam, add a 
tablespoonful of fine salt. Mix the whole with a quart of wine drawn 
from.the barrel to be “fined.” Stir into the barrel and roll it about 
to thoroughly mix. Let the barrel now stand another month tightly 
bunged and completely filled. Back again, and if the wine is sound 
it should be perfectly clear. After this the wine must be racked 
twice a year so long as it remains in the wood. 

Red wines are usually not fit to drink until two years old. If 
wanted to keep longer than this the wine should be bottled when two 
or two and a half years old. In bottle it will keep as long as de¬ 
sired. Ho preservative is needed if wine is made as above described. 


25 


If the wine seems to have gone wrong in any way, a good-sized pinch 
of dry mustard powder will prevent a barrel from spoiling. But this 
will give more or less objectionable taste to the wine. 

Sparkling wine cannot be well made at home, and its manufac¬ 
ture is not recommended. But many country housekeepers like to 
have on hand a home-made cordial. Cordials are usually made from 
sweet wine, and sweet wines always contain at least 18 per cent of 
alcohol. Dry wines may be used for cordials, though in this case the 
cordial is what is called a “bitter.” The following recipe is a good 
one for making “Vermouth,” a celebrated cordial or bitter: 


Dry wine, one year or older.10 gallons. 

Sweet oranges, thinly sliced. 3 oranges. 

Wormwood, powdered. 1-10 pound. 

Calaminth, ditto. 1-10 pound. 

Nutmeg, ditto. 1-20 pound. 

Cinnamon, ditto. 1-10 pound. 

Germander, ditto . 1-10 pound. 

Lesser Centaury, ditto. 1-10 pound. 

Elecampane, ditto. 1-10 pound. 

Gentian root, ditto. 1-10 pound. 


Directions : Steep the herbs and spices in the wine for eight days. 
Then strain through muslin and bottle. 

If a sweet cordial is wanted, add to the above one gallon of grape 
brandy and sugar to suit. 

CIDER-MAKING. 

Apple cider is a much more delicate liquor than either beer or wine. 
It requires a proportionally greater care in the making. For making 
good cider the fruit must be fully ripe, but not over-ripe. Cider can 
be made from summer, fall or winter apples, but as a rule only fall 
apples are used for this purpose. The best cider is made from the 
cultivated crab-apples. The best varieties of cider crabs are Trans- 
cendant, Bed Siberian, and Maiden’s Blush. The best of the standard 
varieties of apples for cider-making are Plumb’s Cider, Smith’s 
Cider, Buckingham, and Mother. Where the latter named varieties, 
or any of them, are used it will improve the quality of cider to add to 
the apples from one-fourtli to one-eighth their amount in crabs. 
Where crabs are not available quinces may be used, but not more than 
10 per cent of the latter. 

Most American apples are lacking in tannin. To secure an 
additional amount of this and other substances necessary for a sound, 
long-keeping cider, for each two bushels of fruit add a small handful 
of clean apple leaves before crushing. 












26 


In the ordinary method of cider-making by small hand presses not 
more than 40 per cent of the juice in the fruit is removed from 
pomace, while only from one-third to one-half the sugar is recovered. 
Hydraulic presses extract about 75 per cent of the juice. By mace¬ 
rating the pomace and re-pressing we may secure practically all the 
j uice and sugar as well as a greatly increased amount of the flavoring 
matter, aromatics and tannin, which are found chiefly in the skins 
and which can be dissolved out by water only at or near the boiling 
temperature. 

The fruit should be crushed in a machine having wooden or copper- 
plated steel rollers, as iron reacts with the tannin of the fruit to darken 
the juice. Press for what juice can be secured. Remove the pomace 
and stir it thoroughly into clear, clean water which has been recently 
boiled and cooled to 75 or 80 degrees F. The temperature must not 
be above the latter figure. Use one gallon of water for each 40 pounds 
of pomace. Let macerate for twenty-four hours and then re-press 
and add the liquid to the first pressing. Return pomace again to the 
macerating vat and for each 40 pounds add one gallon of boiling 
water. Stir vigorously for two or three hours. Press again and add 
this liquid to the other pressings. 

The best’ temperature for fermenting cider juice is between 68 
and 78 degrees F. The nearer to 68 degrees F. the juice can be held 
the better the cider. On no account should the temperature go above 
80 degrees F., as at that heat the yeast cells begin to die and this 
will produce a “stuck” vat. The casks and all utensils used in cider¬ 
making must be sweet, scrupulously clean and have been steril¬ 
ized by means of sulphur fumes. “Sulphur matches,” made espe¬ 
cially for this purpose, can be had of most druggists, but a few pinches 
of powdered sulphur or “brimstone” placed on a hot shovel and the 
bunghole of the cask placed over it will serve as well. Hew casks, 
and old ones which have contained other liquids, should be placed in 
running water for several days before -being used to store cider. 

At 70 degrees F. the fermentation of cider is completed in about 
twenty-five days. But most people prefer their cider sweet; there¬ 
fore the fermentation must be stopped before all the sugar is con¬ 
sumed. Usually about sixteen days actual fermentation will suffice. 
To stop the' fermentation the juice must be rapidly cooled to below 
60 degrees F.—the lower the better. The cooling paralyzes the yeast, 
which soon falls to the bottom of the cask. In fall months, when 
cider is usually made, the night temperature out of doors is below 
60 degrees F., and the cider may be cooled by simply leaving it in 
open air. The clear juice must then be drawn off and “fined.” To 
“fine” or clear cider we may use clay or tannin, preferably the 
latter. If clay is used three ounces will do for fifty gallons. Mix the 
clay with a quart of cider and stir slowly into cask. Then stir vigor- 



27 


ously or bung cask and roll about for a while to distribute the clay 
thoroughly. If tannin is used take for fifty gallons of juice one-half 
ounce tannin. Dissolve in a gill of brandy and stir slowly into cask. 
Then agitate again the cask as before. Let the fined cask stand for two 
weeks and then rack off the lees. The cider is now fit to drink. If 
the cider is to be bottled it must stand for another two weeks and be 
racked off once more. Use wine bottles or ordinary mineral-water 
bottles to keep the cider. Do not use wax on corks or tie them down 
with wire. Keep the stored cider in a dry, dark place having a tem¬ 
perature below 60 degrees F. Properly made cider stored either in 
glass or wood and kept below 60 degrees F. will keep sweet in full 
vessels for over a year. 

The chief enemy of stored cider is the vinegar ferment —Bacillus 
( Mycoderma) aceti . This germ does not attack the cider until the 
alcoholic ferment has ceased to work. It will not grow in any case at 
a temperature below 60 degrees F. Hence the extreme importance 
of keeping cider below this temperature. Where the critical tem¬ 
perature must be overpassed, probably the best plan to prevent acetic 
fermentation is to add to the cask every month or two, one-half pound 
of the best white sugar dissolved in a half gallon of the cider and 
stirred slowly into the cask with subsequent agitation to distribute. 
The sugar keeps up a mild alcoholic fermentation, which in turn 
prevents acetic fermentation. 

Where cider is used from the cask, to prevent spoiling in the partly 
empty cask pour upon the cider a quart of some tasteless vegetable oil 
such as olive or peanut oil. The oil will form a thin film on surface 
of cider and so prevent access of the acetic and putrefactive ferments 
always present in the air. 

Pear cider, or “Perry,” is made in exactly the same way as apple 
cider. 

CIDER VIXEGAE. 

In the production of pure cider vinegar, four factors are concerned. 
These are: 

1. Pure cider. 

2. The presence of the acetic acid ferment, Bacillus (Mycoderma) 
aceti. 

3. Free ingress of air. 

4. Temperature of the air or room not less than 70 degrees F., nor 
more than 85 degrees F. 

As vinegar is ordinarily made, cider is simply allowed to ferment 
spontaneously in unbunged barrels in a cellar the temperature of 
which during the fall months when cider is usually made is pretty 
constant at about 60 degrees F. The acetic acid ferment does not 
grow actively at any temperature below 70 degrees F. Hence the 



28 


relatively long period it requires to produce good vinegar in farm 
cellars. 

Although the acetic ferment requires a comparatively- high tem¬ 
perature, there are many other ferments which can grow at lower 
temperatures. These get into the farmer’s vinegar barrels and make 
trouble. The following described process will enable any one to 
make a fine vinegar with the least possible waste of time and material. 

Take sound barrels or any suitably-sized vessels of wood, earthen¬ 
ware or glass—never iron, copper, or tin. Clean thoroughly and 
scald. Till not more than one-half full with “hard cider” stock, 
which should have fermented at least one month. To this add one- 
fourth its volume of old vinegar. This is a very necessary part of 
the process, since the vinegar restrains the growth of chance ferments 
which abound in the air, and at the same time it favors the true 
acetic acid ferment. Next add to the liquid a little “mother of vin¬ 
egar.” If this latter is not at hand, a fairly pure culture may be 
made by exposing in a shallow uncovered crock or wooden pail a 
mixture of one-half old vinegar and one-half hard cider. The room 
where this is exposed should have a temperature of about 80 degrees 
F. In three or four days the surface should be covered with a gela¬ 
tinous pellicle or cap. This is the “mother of vinegar.” A little of 
this carefully removed with a wooden spoon or a stick should be laid 
gently upon the surface of the cider prepared as above described. Do 
not stir it in. The vinegar ferment grows only at the surface. In 
three days the cap should have spread entirely over the fermenting 
cider. Do not break this cap thereafter so long as the fermentation 
continues. If the temperature is right the fermentation should be 
completed in from four to six weeks. The vinegar should then be 
drawn off, strained through thick white flannel, and the storage ves¬ 
sel corked or bunged tightly and kept in a cool place until wanted for 
consumption. If the vinegar remains turbid after ten days, stir 
into a barrel one pint of a solution of one-half pound of isinglass in 
one quart of water. As soon as settled, rack off and store in tight 
vessels. Usually no fining of vinegar is needed. No pure cider vine-, 
gar will keep long in vessels exposed to the air at a temperature above 
60 degrees F. 

“Vinegar eels” are sometimes troublesome in vinegar barrels. To 
remove these, heat the vinegar scalding hot, but do not boil. When 
cool, strain through clean flannel and the “eels” will be removed. 

In making cider vinegar the strength of the product, or per cent 
by weight of the acetic acid in it, will be equal to or a little greater 
than the per cent by weight of the alcohol in the cider. 



29 


> 


EVAPORATED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 

The fruits most commonly evaporated are apple, peach, prune, 
blackberry, raspberry, and whortleberry. There is also a demand for 
evaporated vegetables, such as corn, sweet potato, and pumpkin. Of 
all evaporated fruits the apple is most popular and most extensively 
used. 

Only good, sound fruit can be used. The apples are pared, cored 
and sliced or quartered by machines made for that purpose. The 
sliced or quartered fruit should be dropped for five minutes into a 
weak brine made by boiling one pound of salt in two gallons of clean, 
soft water. The brine prevents the fruit from discoloring. From the 
brine bath remove the fruit and place in shallow layers on a wire- 
bottomed or cloth tray. Most evaporators subject the fruit at this 
stage to fumes of burning sulphur to bleach it. But if the brine 
bath is used no sulphuring is necessary. Sulphur bleaches the fruit, 
but at the same time greatly decreases its food value and flavor. The 
brined fruit retains its natural color and fruity flavor. The salt used 
does not taste on the fruit. There are many styles of evaporators on 
the market, from the smaller affair to be set on the back of a cook- 
stove to the giant brick stack. All do good work. 

The heat is always supplied by a furnace below the evaporating 
trays. In the best forms of commercial evaporators there is an ele¬ 
vating arrangement worked by a crank so that each fresh tray of 
fruit goes in at the bottom, and by turning the crank the whole super¬ 
imposed stack of trays is moved up one notch to make room for the 
next tray. By the time the first tray reaches the top of the stack the 
fruit is dry. The machine is thus continuous and usually works 
night and day throughout the drying season. Ho evaporator having 
a capacity of less than twenty-five bushels of green fruit per day of 
twenty-four hours can be made to pay commercially. The larger the 
evaporator the less the cost per pound of finished product. A com¬ 
plete outfit, including paring and slicing machines for evaporating 
100 bushels of apples daily, can be installed for about $500. 

The following figures as to profits on evaporated fruit are approxi¬ 
mately correct for Horth Carolina: 

One bushel of fresh apples will produce 6y 2 pounds of dried fruit, 
worth about 50 cents, at cost of 10 cents for labor and fuel. 

One bushel of peaches will produce 6 pounds of dried fruit, worth 
about 50 cents, at cost of 15 cents for labor, etc. 

One hundred quarts of blackberries will produce 40 pounds dried 
fruit, worth $4, at cost of 50 cents for labor, etc. 

One hundred quarts of black raspberries will produce 30 pounds 
dried fruit, worth $6, at cost of 40 cents for labor, etc. 

One hundred quarts of whortleberries will produce 40 pounds 
dried fruit, worth $6, at cost of 25 cents for labor, etc. 


30 


PICKLED MEATS. 

Corned Beef .—Beef for pickling should be as fresh as possible. 
The pieces should not be too large. Before placing the meat in the 
pickle, powder and rub it with the following composition: three 
parts of fine salt, one part of brown sugar, and one-eighth part 
of powdered acetate of soda. The pieces of meat, thoroughly rubbed 
with the above powder, are piled up or placed in a box, vat or 
barrel, and allowed to remain in the dry .salt for eight days, but must 
be turned over every morning. At the end of the eight days remove 
the meat from the salting vessel and wash in cold water to remove all 
salt and clots clinging to the outside. Dry the meat for a short time 
and then place in a 25 per cent salt brine. In this brine it remains 
another eight days. It is then removed and washed. After removing 
from the brine and washing, the meat should be thoroughly air-dried 
and then hung in the smoke-house and exposed to cold smoke for 
forty-eight hours. This amount of smoking will give the meat a 
slight flavor of smoke, but a longer period may injure the flavor by , 
giving an overdose of creosote. The meat may be allowed to hang 
in the smoke-house, but without smoke, until wanted for consumption. 

It may also be hung or stored in any dark, dry place well protected 
from insects. 

Beef tongues are pickled and smoked in the same way as beef 
joints, but they should be allowed to remain in the brine for fifteen 
days and be turned over every third day. To enable the brine to 
penetrate better, the tongue should be punctured in several places 
with a wooden skewer or with a silver-plated or copper—not iron— 
fork. 

Tripe .—The best tripe is made from the paunch or stomach of 
beef animals. The tripes should be thoroughly washed and scraped 
and then placed for twenty-four hours in running water. They 
should then be put into a heavy iron kettle or, better, an earthenware 
cooking-dish and simmered in one per cent salted water which has 
been aromatized with a. little thyme or mint. In this vessel the tripe 
should remain for two or three hours. It is then removed and thor¬ 
oughly dried, being covered with a clean cloth so as to cool slowly. 
The tripe at this stage of the process may be preserved in many 
different ways; but where it is to be consumed only after some consid¬ 
erable time, it is usually canned. In canning tripe and other meats, 
the temperature must be raised to 240 degrees F. At this tempera¬ 
ture the cans or jars must be kept for half an hour for each pound 
of meat. In the Lyonnaise method of canning tripe it is, after the 
preliminary treatment as above, cut into small squares and placed in 
a frying-pan with some butter and large slices of onion, salt, pepper, 
and parsley to taste. In this pan it is cooked until well brown and 





31 


then while hot packed tightly into cans or jars, and sealed and proc¬ 
essed as above stated. In the Flemish method the tripe is cut into 
narrow strips and placed in a porcelain vessel over a slow fire, and 
butter, chopped parsley, pepper, salt, and a little thyme are added, 
with Hour sufficient to make a thin paste covering to the pieces of 
tripe. Add enough water to cover the whole and the juice of one 
lemon. Boil for one-fourth hour for each two pounds of tripe. Just 
before removing from the fire add the beaten yellows of three eggs. 
I he tripe thus cooked is then placed in jars or cans and processed as 
stated. 

MEAT PICKLE OR BRINE. 

Each nation seems to have its own peculiar style of meat pickle. 
The following are some of the best formulas: 

German Brine .—-For each 26% gallons of water, take salt, 83% 
pounds; carbonate of soda, 20 ounces; and 2 ounces each of cumin 
and juniper berries. Bring this mixture slowly to the boiling point 
and carefully skim off all froth. Allow to cool before using. 

English Brine .—For each 26% gallons of water take 27% pounds 
of salt, 50 pounds of brown sugar and 2% pounds of saltpeter. Place 
the following substances in a muslin bag: two ounces of juniper ber¬ 
ries ; 2 ounces of mace; 1 ounce of unground cloves; 1 ounce of thyme, 
and 1 ounce of cherry-laurel leaves. Blace the bag of herbs, the 
salt, sugar, and saltpeter in the cold water and bring slowly to a 
boil. Allow it to cool before using, and when cool remove the bag 
containing the aromatics, and squeeze it thoroughly to extract all 
the juice. 

French Brine .—For each 26% gallons of water take 97 pounds 
of salt, 27 pounds of brown sugar, and 10 pounds of saltpeter. 
Place these substances in cold water and then add a muslin sack 
containing the following aromatics: two ounces of coriander; 1 
ounce of cumin; 1 ounce of mace; 1 ounce of nutmeg; 1 ounce of 
clove-flowers; 10 ounces of an equal mixture of cherry-laurel leaves, 
thyme, sage, and sweet marjoram or summer savory. Bring slowly 
to a boil and boil five minutes. 

Spanish Brine .—Five gallons of water, 5 gallons of red wine, 27 
pounds of salt, 8 ounces of carbonate of soda, 25 ounces of saltpeter. 
Place all together in a pot and boil for ten minutes, then add 2% 
pounds of ground white pepper and a muslin sack containing the 
following aromatics: three ounces of sweet basil and sage mixed in 
equal parts; 2 ounces of thyme and cherry-laurel mixed in equal 
parts; and if desired, a pinch of lavender and of rosemary. Cover 
the vessel and allow the aromatics.to remain until the brine is cold. 
It is then ready for use. 





32 


Pickled Ham .—Trim the fresh hams to give them any desirable 
form, then beat them with a wooden mallet in order to free the 
veins from blood and favor the absorption of salt. Then rub them 
thoroughly with salt to which has been added a little saltpeter, or, 
if one prefers a mild cured ham, use pure cream of tartar instead of 
saltpeter. Pile and cover the salted hams and leave them to absorb 
the dry salt for two days, then turn them over, rub once more and 
let stand two days more and again repeat the rubbing with salt. 
After six days in the dry salt brush off all salt adhering, to the 
outside, then place the hams in one or the other of the above-described 
pickles, according to taste. The German pickle is probably the best. 
Cover the pickling vat or barrel and keep it in the dark to prevent 
growth of molds. According to the size and weight of the hams they 
should remain from two to four weeks in the brine. They are then 
removed and washed in warm water, and with a stiff brush rub off 
all clotted blood and other impurities and make the ham as white 
as possible. In this condition they are hung in a well-ventilated, 
cool, dark place for eight days in order to dry out. At the end of 
this period of hanging the hams are rubbed with a mixture of rye or 
wheat flour and powdered soja bean or any yellow pea,-so as to give 
them a yellowish color. They are then hung in the smoke-house, 
where they should be smoked with oak or hickory sawdust or chips, 
to which may be added as an aromatizer a handful of juniper .berries 
or some aromatic wood according to taste—sassafras is preferred by 
many. The hams should hang in the smoke just long enough to give 
them a light-brown color. If allowed to remain until the hams 
become black, their flavor and edible value is very greatly injured. 
On removal from the smoke-house the hams should be hung again for 
a few days in a cool, dry place to dry off all moisture that may have 
been absorbed from the damp smoke. They may then be placed in 
canvas or paper sacks or placed in tight, clean boxes and packed with 
clean oats or bran, or dry oak or hickory sawdust, or dry wood ashes. 

Pork shoulders are salted and smoked in the same wav as hams. 

t/ 

Other cuts of pork may be salted and smoked in the same way, but 
these cuts should not remain in the pickle longer than ten days. 

Bacon .—Bacon is cured differently from ham in so far that salt¬ 
peter and sugar are never used. The pieces selected for bacon curing 
are rubbed with plain salt, which they are allowed to absorb for six 
days, being turned and rubbed every second day. They are then 
placed in a pickle without saltpeter—preferably the German style— 
for from four to six weeks, being turned once a week. At the end 
of this period they are removed from the brine and rubbed with a 
stiff brush to remove all adhering clots and are then dusted with a 
powder having the following composition: gypsum, 6 ounces; rye or 
other flour, 17 ounces; fine salt, 10 ounces; powdered cream of tartar, 



33 


% ounce. Hang the pieces of bacon thus prepared in a dry, cool and 
dark room until they have thoroughly dried out. They are then 
lightly smoked, and when dried out the pieces are canvassed or may 
be packed away as above described in the case of hams. 

sausage. 

For the preparation of sausage, any kind of lean meat may be 
used, but all blood vessels and decayed parts must be first removed. 
The mixed meats should then be hashed in one of the many excellent 
meat-choppers on the market. The following are methods <?f pre¬ 
paring some celebrated styles of sausage: 

Lyons Sausage .—Meats used in this kind of sausage must be of 
the best quality. Hams, chines, and rib pieces are most esteemed. 
Before chopping, the pieces are placed to soak for twelve hours in an 
aromatic mixture as follows: For each pound of meat take 2-3 of an 
ounce of fine salt, 1-30 of an ounce of white sugar, 1-15 of an ounce 
of ground white pepper and two cloves of garlic, or in the absence of 
garlic use a small onion. Chop the whole finely and put into a 
mixing bowl with 2 ounces of fat bacon, cut into small cubes or 
dice, for each pound of sausage meat. Mix the whole thoroughly 
and then proceed to fill into well-cleaned intestines or sausage casing, 
which should be cleaned and prepared in advance. When the casings 
are filled, they should be suspended for forty-eight hours in free air 
in order to permit moisture to evaporate. The sausages are then 
taken, one at a time, and squeezed strongly at the ends in order to 
force the sausage into a solid mass, and fill the space left by the 
evaporated moisture. The empty ends of the sausage cases may 
then be refilled or the binding cord may be moved up. The sausages 
are then to be suspended in a dry, well-ventilated place, where they 
may remain for four months, but will keep well for a year and a half. 

Lyons sausage may be made equally well with an equal mixture 
of beef and pork. The sausage made in this way is ready for con¬ 
sumption after three months. 

French Pork Sausage .—For making this sausage any kind of lean 
pork meat may be used. It should not be chopped too finely. For 
each 4 pounds of meat add 1-10 of an ounce of cream of tartar, 1-10 
of an ounce of white sugar, 1 ounce of salt, 1-10 of an ounce of sweet 
marjoram, and 1-5 of an ounce of unground black pepper. Mix 
thoroughly and fill into well-cleaned casiugs and suspend for fifteen 
days in a cool, dry room, then compact the meat in casings and 
remove to a smoke-house and smoke with cold smoke until. well 
blackened. When removing from the smoke-house, rub the outside 
with a little melted lard or a piece of fat, warm bacon. Roll each 
sausage separately in an envelope of paper and pack in boxes with 
drv wood ashes. 



Spanish Sausage .—Spanish sausage is made entirely of pork. 
The meat is to be chopped not too finely and for each 2 y 2 pounds is 
added 1/2 ounce of fine salt; 1-10 ounce of unground pepper; 1-10 
ounce of powdered allspice; 1-30 ounce of yellow saffron; and a 
small pinch each of thyme, sage, and garlic. For each 25 pounds of 
the completed mixture, add 1 pint of sherry, brandy, or port wine. 
Mix thoroughly and fill into small sausage casing and hang the 
sausages in the drying-room for eight days, then smoke forty-eight 
hours. Wrap in greased paper and pack in wood ashes or dry oak 
sawdust. 

THE PRESERVATION OF FISH. 

As many farmers live near the seacoast or sounds where sea-fish 
is in season very cheap and abundant, a few words on the best 
methods of preserving this class of food will not be out of place. 

All dead fishes tend to putrefy rapidly, and in this condition 
develop dangerous “ptomaines” or physiological poisons. Therefore 
fishes for canning, drying, or pickling should be as fresh as possible. 
Generally speaking, the methods of preserving fish are in all particu¬ 
lars similar to those used for preserving animal flesh. Fish cannot 
be canned at a temperature below 240 degrees F. 

Kippered Herrings and Mullets .—The so-called “kippered” her¬ 
rings are well liked by most persons. The following formulas have 
been found satisfactory in practice: 

After scaling the herrings, remove the heads and gills, then remove 
the entrails without splitting the body. The dressed fishes are then 
plunged into plain cold brine containing 25 per cent of salt. Allow 
them to remain in this pickle for forty-five minutes. Remove from 
the brine, drain, and then arrange them preferably in flat boxes sim¬ 
ilar to those used for sardines, but any long box or jar may be used. 
For spicing the fish, add to the cans a little sage, thyme, parsley, 
tarragon, a few thin slices of onion and one or two pieces of dried 
citron or lemon peel. Then introduce into the jar as much as it 
will hold of juice made of one part boiled water and two parts cold 
vinegar. Close the jar or can and process the can at 240 degrees F. 
for five minutes for each pound of fish. 

Another way of canning herrings, mullets, and other sea-fishes is 
as follows: After cleaning and trimming the fish as already stated, 
cut into transverse slices, rejecting the rib-bones, then place in cans or 
jars as stated before, and add the same amount of aromatics, but in¬ 
stead of using the liquor before mentioned, run in as much as the can 
will hold of hot melted butter. Then close and process the cans at 
240 degrees F. ten minutes for each pound of fish. 



35 


• f 


The more common way of preserving herrings is, however, by 
simply salting them. We can recommend the following plan: Clean 
and scale the fishes and, without splitting, remove the heads, intes¬ 
tines, and gills. Pack the fishes closely (in layers) in barrels or 
kegs. Upon each layer of fishes dust a little ground black pepper, and 
lay on a few slices of onion and aromatic herbs according to taste. 
After the barrel or keg has been completely filled, head it up under 
pressure. Then through the bung run in as much as the vessel will 
take of the following liquor: One gallon af water; 1 gallon of pure 
cider vinegar; 2 pounds of salt, N and 1-10 ounce of pure acetate of 
soda. ITeat this brine to the boiling point and permit it to cool 
before using. After ten days in the brine the herrings are fit for 
consumption. 

Smoked Herrings or “Bloaters .”—Por smoking, herrings must be 
absolutely fresh. Scale and split down belly, but do not remove heads. 
Remove gills and intestines. Make a brine of 20 parts salt to 100 
parts water and add to it 1-10 ounce acetate of soda per quart. In 
this liquor soak the cleaned herrings for thirty minutes. Remove 
and flatten and hang them in a current of dry air so as to dry as 
quickly as possible. When well dried hang in smoke-house for twelve 
to fourteen hours, or until the herrings have acquired a bright, golden 
color. They may remain in the smoke-house—without smoke—or in 
any dry, dark room, until wanted, or thev may be packed in boxes in 
dry wood ashes. 




36 


APPENDIX. 


In many localities small farm canneries to work on fruit and 
vegetables will pay well. Commercial canning methods do not 
differ essentially from those described in this Bulletin, but tin cans 
are always used instead of glass jars. 

The following estimates on canning machinery and outfits for a 
small commercial cannery are furnished us by a manufacturer of 
such goods: 

Tomato and Fruit Canning Plant. Capacity 3,000 3-lb. cans, or 5,000 
2-lb. cans per day. Kettles can be set in brick-work or attached to 
a steam boiler. 


Process Kettle, 36 in. dia. x 35 in. deep..$ 18.00 

Exhaust Kettle, 36 in. dia. x 24 in. deep. 16.00 

Scalding Kettle, 30 in. dia. x 24 in. deep. 14.00 

3 Sets Grate Bars, } or 3 Steam Coils ^ n 

3 Furnace Doors, j if Boiler is used j 

2 Gasoline Fire-pots, complete. 32.00 

2 6-Tier Process Crates .. 14.00 

2 1-Tier Exhaust Crates . 7.00 

1 Set of Crane Fixtures. 10.00 

4 Capping Machines . 3.00 

4 Capping Coppers . 4.00 

2 Tipping Coppers. 1.00 

2 Scalding Baskets . 2.00 

1 Forging Handle. .25 

1 Forging Stake . . .. 2.50 

1 Vise . 2.50 

% Doz. Files. 1.35 

2 Pr. Can Tongs . .70 

1 Forging Hammer. 1.00 

1 Floor Truck . 12.00 

2 Doz. Peeling Knives. 2.00 


$158.30 

Estimate does not include steam boiler. 

A 20-horse-power boiler would be required for the purpose. ■ A 
building 20 x 45 feet would be a very suitable one for this plant. 
Boiler may be placed in this building or in a boiler-room adjoining. 
























MISCELLANEOUS SUPPLIES FOR COMMERCIAL CANNERS. 

Acid, per carboy ($1.50 allowed for empties), 100 lbs. . . .$ 4.50 


Air Gauges . 3.00 

Air Pump, Hand . 7.00 

Air Pump, Lever . 12.00 

Air Pump, Wheel. 35.00 

Paste, per half barrel. 2.00 

Sal Ammoniac, per lb.20 

Spelter, per lb. .07 

Syrup Gauges . 1.00 


Very few canners now make their own cans. Can-making is a 
specialty carried on in large factories with aid of improved, patented 
machinery. As a rule, a cannery whose output does not exceed 5,000 
cans daily can buy the cans cheaper than it can make them. Ready¬ 
made cans are sold at about $10 per 1,000 for 2-pound cans; $21.50 
per 1,000 for 3-pound cans. By the car-load the cans cost a little 
less. They usually come packed in crates holding two dozen cans. 
The same crates are used to ship the packed goods in. 

Solder costs 17 cents per pound; soldering fluid 32 cents per gal¬ 
lon. Labels are always lithographed in colors, showing the kind of 
fruit contained and the name and address of canner. Labels cost 
from $1.25 to $2 per 1 , 000 . 
































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